Nucleic Acids

Nucleic acids are made up of polynucleotides

polymers of nucleotides.
There are two types of nucleic acids
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
Genes
Are the units of inheritance made up of DNA
they consist of sequences of DNA nucleotides that
program the amino acid sequence of polypeptides

Stores information for the synthesis of specific

proteins
Directs RNA synthesis
Directs protein synthesis through mRNA
Exists as double stranded structure in the form
of the double helix in cells and has a long life
span

Relationship
between
DNA, RNA
and proteins

DNA

Synthesis of
mRNA in the nucleus

mRNA

NUCLEUS
CYTOPLASM
mRNA
2

Movement of
mRNA into cytoplasm
via nuclear pore

Ribosome

Synthesis
of protein

Polypeptide

Amino
acids

Nucleic acids are polymers called

polynucleotides
Each polynucleotide is made of
monomers called nucleotides
Each nucleotide consists of a
nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar, and
one or more phosphate groups
The portion of a nucleotide without the
phosphate group is called a nucleoside

5 end

Sugar-phosphate backbone

Nitrogenous bases
Pyrimidines

5C
3C
Nucleoside
Nitrogenous
base

Cytosine (C) Thymine (T, in DNA) Uracil (U, in RNA)

Purines

5C
1C
5C
3C

Phosphate
group

3C

Sugar
(pentose)
Guanine (G)

Adenine (A)
(b) Nucleotide

3 end

Sugars

(a) Polynucleotide, or nucleic acid

Deoxyribose (in DNA)

(c) Nucleoside components

Ribose (in RNA)

Nitrogenous bases
Pyrimidines

Cytosine
(C)

Thymine
(T, in DNA)

Uracil
(U, in RNA)
Sugars

Purines

Adenine (A)

Guanine (G)

(c) Nucleoside components

Deoxyribose
(in DNA)

Ribose
(in RNA)

Are made up of nucleosides and phosphate groups

The phosphate group carries negative charges and as a result both
DNA and RNA are negatively charged
The nucleosides are made up of nitrogenous bases and pentose
sugars
There are 2 types of pentose sugars deoxyribose (in DNA) and
ribose (in RNA)
Nitrogenous bases contain nitrogen and act as bases by picking up
hydrogen ions
The bases can be categorized into 2 groups purines and
pyrimidines
Purines consist of adenine (A) and Guanine (G) while pyrimidines
consist of cytosine (C), thymine (T) and uracil (U)
There are 4 types of bases in DNA and RNA
In DNA, the type of bases are A, G, T and C
In RNA, the type of bases are A, G, C and U

 Are made up of nucleotides linked by the OH group on the 3

carbon of one nucleotide and the phosphate on the 5 carbon on

the next nucleotide through condensation reactions resulting in the
formation of 5 3 phosphodiester linkages

Sugar-phosphate backbone

5 end
5C
3C

Nucleoside
Nitrogenous
base
5C
1C
5C
3C
3 end
(a) Polynucleotide, or nucleic acid

Phosphate
group
(b) Nucleotide

3C

Sugar
(pentose)

The sequence of bases/nucleotides along a

nucleotide polymer
Is unique for each gene
Determines the sequence of amino acids for a
polypeptide chain

11

Cellular DNA molecules

Have two polynucleotides that spiral around an imaginary
axis
Form a double helix held together by hydrogen bonding
The nitrogenous bases in DNA
Form hydrogen bonds in a complementary fashion (A with
T only, and C with G only)
Between A and T, there are 2 hydrogen bonds while
between G and C, there are 3 hydrogen bonds
Each turn of the double helix contains 10 pairs of bases
held together by hydrogen bonds

12

Sugar-phosphate
backbones
Hydrogen bonds

Base pair joined

by hydrogen
bonding

(a) DNA

Base pair joined

by hydrogen bonding
(b) Transfer RNA

5 end
O

OH

Hydrogen bond

3 end
OH

O
O

Base pairing
between the
bases

O
O

CH2
O

O
P

O
C

G
O

P
O

O
P

H2 C

CH2

O
H2C

CH2
O

O
H2 C

O
A

T
O

CH2

OH
3 end

O
O

(b) Partial chemical structure

O
P

O
P
O

5 end

14

The DNA double helix

Consists of two antiparallel nucleotide strands which
are complementary to each other.
5 end

3 end
Sugar-phosphate
backbone
Base pair (joined by
hydrogen bonding)
Old strands

A 3 end

Nucleotide
about to be
added to a
new strand

5 end

3 end
5 end

New
strands
3 end

15

1.
2.
3.

Generally single stranded

Has short life span
Consist of the bases A,G,C and U.
There are 3 main types of RNA:
mRNA (messenger RNA) transcribes the genetic
information from DNA
rRNA (ribosomal RNA) combines with proteins to
form ribosomes
tRNA (transfer RNA) transfers amino acids to the
growing polypeptide chains attached to ribosomes to
aid in translation process

16

Molecular comparisons
Help biologists sort out the evolutionary connections
among species
DNA and amino acid sequences can be compared to
establish evolutionary relationships

17